Mike McCoy has Bears, Cardinals wanting an interview about coach jobs

As a head coaching candidate, Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy is getting hotter by the hour. The Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears have sought, and been granted, permission to interview McCoy for their vacant head coaching positions.

The Cardinals dismissed Ken Whisenhunt and the Bears fired Lovie Smith on Monday. Five other NFL head coaches were fired.

When an NFL team asks permission to interview an assistant coach from another team, the candidate's team has some rights in the process.

In an effort to minimize disruption to their playoff preparations, the Broncos are insisting that teams interested in McCoy conduct their interviews this weekend in the Denver area.

The Bears and Cardinals already have made plans to send contingents to Denver to visit with McCoy on Saturday or Sunday, when Broncos players and coaches are off. The Bears' contingent is expected to include general manager Phil Emery and possibly chairman of the board George McCaskey and team president Ted Phillips.

The Cardinals will be represented by team president Mike Bidwell and perhaps others. Bidwell said Monday he also would interview Andy Reid and his own defensive coordinator, Ray Horton.

Reid was the Philadelphia Eagles' head coach for 14 seasons until he was fired Monday. Other head coaches dismissed: San Diego's Norv Turner, Kansas City's Romeo Crennel, Buffalo's Chan Gailey and Cleveland's Pat Shurmur.

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McCoy is considered a hot commodity because he directed the Broncos to the league's No.1-ranked rushing offense last season with quarterback Tim Tebow and to the No. 5 offense in passing this season with quarterback Peyton Manning.

In each case, the Broncos won the AFC West title.

As for the teams pursuing McCoy for their top job, there are problems with both the Bears and Cardinals. On the field, the Bears are led by quarterback Jay Cutler and receiver Brandon Marshall. Cutler was Denver's quarterback from 2006-08, but he became disgruntled after Mike Shanahan was fired as head coach. Shanahan's replacement, Josh McDaniels, had a personality conflict with Cutler — and the quarterback was traded to Chicago in April 2009.

McCoy had been with the Broncos as offensive coordinator for only a couple of months at that point. He had a couple of weeks of offensive meetings with Cutler before the quarterback's relationship with McDaniels fell apart.

McCoy, 40, had one season with Marshall, who made 101 catches for the Broncos in 2009, but the receiver was benched in the final game by McDaniels essentially for insubordination. Marshall then was traded after that season to the Miami Dolphins.

Despite Marshall's gaudy statistics in six of his seven NFL seasons, he never has been part of a playoff team. Cutler has reached the playoffs only once in seven seasons, although in fairness to both players, the Bears were 10-6 this season, missing the playoffs because of a tiebreaker.

In Arizona, the Cardinals have serious issues at quarterback and with their offensive line.

Even if McCoy reaches an agreement to become the head coach with another team, he would remain the Broncos' offensive coordinator through their playoff run.

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